Finally
by anoldfashioned
Summary: Sarah tells Cora that she is leaving, that is the last thing her Ladyship wants.


_Story written as though Mathew did not die at the end of Season 3. I hope you enjoy my first ever fic :)_

_Disclaimer: I own none of these stunning characters x_

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**_Finally_**

As Sarah reached her Ladyship's bedroom door she stopped and took a deep breath to calm her nerves, knowing if she walked in there in this state Lady Cora will immediately know something is wrong. She wanted to tell her what she had to say in her own time. It is with a heavy heart that Sarah had decided to leave Downton to go to India. It seems like a perfect escape from the inappropriate love she has been harbouring for Cora these many years. The family arrived back at Downton a week ago from Scotland, in which time Sarah had carefully considered the offer from Lady Flintshire. She dreads leaving the woman she loves so much but in the end it is for the best. Now is the hard part, telling this beautiful woman that she is leaving. But will she be upset at all? Or is Sarah just another servant? Easily replaced, unmissed.

She raised a shaking hand to knock on the door and it opened, frightening the daylights out of her as she yelped in shock into the face of his Lordship who looked equally as stunned. She stepped back and said "I am terribly sorry your Lordship, I wasn't expecting to see you there." He smirked and replied "That's quite alright O'Brien. Goodnight." She returned his goodnight, curious as to know why he would not be staying with Lady Cora tonight. This seemed to happen often at the moment, ever since their arrival home.

"Come in O'Brien" she said with that stunning smile on her face. "I hope Robert didn't frighten you too much" she said with a giggle. She turned to face Sarah and concern immediately replaced her smile. "My dearest O'Brien…" she said standing up from her vanity seat. "You're shaking. Is something the matter?" she asked reaching for her maid's hands. "Everything is fine Milady, I just had a bit of a shock is all" grateful of an excuse for her nerves. She looked up at Cora who gave her a sweet smile and squeezed her hands, before turning around so Sarah could begin the process of undressing her for the night.

Once Cora was finally in her nightgown she went and sat at the vanity again, and Sarah began to unpin her hair. "Will his Lordship be sleeping in the dressing room tonight Milady?" Sarah politely asked. "Yes he will. He says he is tired this evening" Cora replied weakly. Sarah has become very good at telling when there is something upsetting her Ladyship. Cora seemed a little quite after that. As Sarah freed the pins from her hair she asked "Is everything alright Milady? You don't seem quite yourself tonight." Cora awoke from her daydream and said "Everything is fine thank you O'Brien. His Lordship and I are just not quite getting along so well at the moment." Sarah had been with her for a long time now and felt comfortable confiding in her. "But every marriage goes through these patches, I am sure it will all be fine soon." She said with a weak smile, not at all sure if they would pull through this rough patch and be the same again. "Well Milady, I am sure you are right" she said with a reassuring smile, a smile as equally as weak as her Ladyships. She ran her fingers through her ladyship's hair to loosen it before she brushed it. Cora closed her eyes as she always enjoyed this bit; Sarah's touch was so gentle. Before they both knew it, Sarah had brushed and pulled Cora's hair into a neat plat. "O'Brien, are you nothing is the matter? You look just as nervous and upset as when you came in." Cora asked concerned. Sarah met Cora's eye in the mirror and her heart melted, this would be harder than she had thought. Sarah placed a hand on her Ladyship's shoulder, not quite able to meet her eye again she said "Milady, there is something I have to speak with you about" with a shaky voice. "My goodness O'Brien this sounds serious. Please, do go on" Cora spoke nervously. "You see, the thing is Milady…" Sarah stuttered "… what I have to tell you is not an easy thing and I am not sure where to start." "Well O'Brien, you have me awfully worried now so try to start at the beginning please." The maid took a deep breath, just barely concealing her watery eyes. "You remember I helped Lady Flintshire with her hair in Scotland? Well she was very happy with my work and she has offered for me to go to India with her as her Lady's maid." Sarah paused to re-gather herself, noting the suspenseful upset look on her ladyship's face that surprised her. "I have decided to accept her offer Milady, so I am handing in my resignation. I understand I should speak to Mr Carson or Mrs Hughes about this first, but I thought you might like to hear it from me."

Cora sat speechless trying to think of what to say to Sarah. She couldn't bear the thought of her leaving; she was so attached to her Lady's maid. Corah loved her, although she would never admit it; she had loved her for many years. She looked up and saw a worried look on Sarah's face, her eyes filled with tears and she realised that she hadn't spoken in several minutes. "Well O'Brien, I will not hide my disappointment in losing you and you must go where you are happy, and clearly that is no longer with me." She spoke fighting back the tears.

Sarah was shocked her Ladyship thought this. "Oh no Milady, that is not the case at all. I have been blissfully happy with you and it is with great regret that I leave, but I think it is for the best."

"O'Brien you clearly don't mean that for if you were happy you would be staying. What do you mean it is for the best?"

"Well Milady, when Lady Flintshire made the offer for me, the thought of leaving you just about broke my heart, and I realised that I would miss you a bit too much if I left. Honestly Milady that scared me."

Cora looked at Sarah with a puzzled look on her face, she could see her maid clearly wanted to stay very much. She was so confused as to why her maid still wanted to leave, had her maid realised that Cora was in love with her? Cora quickly wiped these thoughts from her mind and said "Sarah you must go where you are happy, that is all I want for you."

Sarah stepped in front of where Cora was sitting and knelt down, holding her Ladyship's hands "Milady, I am happy here, but I think you know why I must go" she said, tears quickly crowding her eyes.

Cora's heart skipped a beat and suddenly became extremely loud in her ears. She squeezed Sarah's hand and got to her feet, pulling her maid up with her. She looked straight into the maid's eyes and said "Then please, please stay with me Sarah."

This was breaking Sarah's heart, hearing her ladyship's words, her lady speaking her Christian name, and then seeing her eyes water. She must be strong here she thought, she has made her decision. "Milady I will help you find a suitable replacement and I won't go until she has arrived."

Cora took a deep breath and before she knew what she was doing, all the words she wasn't supposed to say came flowing from her mouth. "No, I want you. I love you. I love you so much." A look of shock covered Cora's face and she looked away from her maids gaze to their joined hands. She dropped her Sarah's hands and turned away covering her mouth in shock; surely her maid would be disgusted and leave immediately.

"And I love you." Sarah quickly replied. As Cora turned back, their eyes met, both filled with shock, relief, tears and confusion as to what to do next. Sarah looked down and quickly started to leave for the door, she needed space, she needed air, she didn't know what to do. She hadn't expected such a change of events this evening. As she passed her ladyship for the door, she tripped on the rug, flying forward. Before she knew it her ladyship's arms were wrapped around her, breaking her fall. She rearranged her feet under her so that Cora no longer was holding her up. Cora's arms remained around her maid, and they just looked into each other's eyes, both appearing to relax a little bit. Sarah couldn't bear it any longer; she wrapped her arms around Cora's waist and buried her face into her shoulder. They hung onto each other tightly, pulling one and other into the embrace more and more as though someone was trying to pull them apart.

Sarah lifted her head to whisper in Cora's ear "Oh Milady, I love you so much, and have for many years now. I cannot believe that you return what I feel." "Oh Sarah, you have no idea. I don't think you can comprehend my love." They both held each other as their tears mingled on their touching cheeks. They were both blissfully happy in each other's arms. Cora placed her hands on her maid's cheeks and looked into her eyes and whispered "Please don't leave me Sarah."

"I'll never leave you now Milady, never."

"Please call me Cora my dear."

"Anything you say m'love."

They gave each other a tender kiss on the cheek. They both wanted to properly join their lips but for some reason they were still both tentative about actually making that leap. Their lips were mere inches apart; Sarah looked into Cora's eyes before they slowly closed as they both leaned in to close the distance between them. Their lips tenderly touched; there was more love in that gentle, exquisite kiss than Sarah had known in her whole lifetime. They drew back from the kiss and pressed their foreheads together both smiling, both completely happy. They had their eyes closed as they savoured the moment. Cora brushed her hand over Sarah's cheek and breathed "Finally."

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_I hope you enjoyed :) reviews of all shapes and sizes welcome :) xx_


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